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“When your book is finished, it is not your baby anymore. It has grown up, is now a product and ready to go out into the world. You are not selling “my book,” but “this book about -----” (and the reasons why people want to read it). Leave your ego at home.”

— Toni Graeme

Editor’s note: Canadian author Toni Graeme seeks Alaska women to join in her own “labor of love” and contribute a story for the latest edition of her book, Women Who Lived and Loved North of 60' (in exchange for an author’s credit). I agreed to pass along her query, as long as she would answer a few questions — and tell a little about self publishing and “print on demand.” She graciously complied.

AWH: How did you come up with the idea for this book?

TG: I had lived in the Yukon and Northwest Territories for 10 years. I returned to southern British Columbia — balmy Victoria, actually :) — in 1988. I went to the local Arctic Luncheon Club get-togethers twice a year. At first it was mainly men who spoke, but I asked that the emcee take a portable mike from table to table and just put it in the hands of women he knew had never spoken.  By the third year, having heard a number of women describe their sometimes trying, but never boring, northern life experiences I thought it would be great to put them together as a sort of entertainment/history project. So I put out the word to this group, northern women I knew, newspapers and magazines they read and collected the stories plus 55 photos to go with them. The oldest story goes back to 1937.

AWH: Why are you turning now to Alaskans?

TG: Two reasons. One is to sell the book in the US. the book needs some Alaskan stories, not just Canadian. But, much more exciting than that, it is a chance to expose southerners to the plights and delights that northern women experience. It is not as easy a life there, but I found often more rewarding. I think it is great for women to share their experiences without having the burden of having to deal with producing a whole book.

AWH: Who would be your ideal contributor?

TG: Any woman can write, and I mean that. It can be someone who has been there only a few months, but has perhaps had a very eventful few months. … And of course the longer they have been (in the north), the more stories they have to draw on. They can write about themselves and families, or life in the community and things that have happened to others and perhaps reflect on how it has affected them. There is the isolation, lack of material/consumer lifestyle so prevalent in the south, how they handle the weather. Do they garden? Women who worked, who stayed at home — they are all equal and all have a story to tell. People moving on and deaths seem to have a greater impact on us in the north, more devastating. Births, on the other hand, bring more joy and significance for many.

AWH: Why do you continue publishing these books if they do not pay enough to allow you to compensate writers (or even yourself)? I've heard that pay-on-demand made self publishing less expensive — even lucrative for some. Tell a little about the print on demand world.

TG: Oh, how controversial this one gets. You know, for me this book was and still is a passion and FUN :) It truly is. If I had thought about the cost at the beginning, I am sure I would have not gone ahead. I think I have spent $10,000 Cdn easily and perhaps recouped $4,000, maybe. But I left part of my heart in the north and I miss parts of it dearly, and I think this was my way of dealing with it. I absolutely love talking to people about these women's lives. I tried writing to traditional publishers but ”no, it is not one of our genres,” or “no, it is not strong enough” — whatever that meant. So I discovered, in 2000, Print on Demand. I knew nothing of publishing at all. The first thing a writer needs to do before writing a word is think about who their readers are? Where are they? How would one reach them, at what cost? Through what venues? Then examine the cost of printing the book, pricing it so it is salable and who is going to distribute it. You? No? Then who? A distributor charges 30 to 55 percent — that is out of your pocket, but may be okay if you really want to get your book out and about. But the biggest part of it, no matter how it is published, is name recognition … yours as well as the book's. I have a POD with an office in UK, Ireland and southern US at this point, as well as in Canada. They can serve as a distributor. The main drawbacks are two: One they do not accept returns and many book stores only deal with consignment sales; the second one is the sales price will be 2.5 times the cost of their printing, and I think that puts too many books at too high a price for what they are. 

AWH: What advice would you give to other self-publishers starting out? What were the best decisions you made regarding selling/marketing your book — and what do you had done differently?

TG: To make money, you need to market the book. Although a distributor will present a book to a bookstore, they can't sell it like you can. You give it the sizzle that is needed. Read and study the topic well before you get too far along. While (self-publishing) is a shorter road to publishing than with a traditional publisher, it is arduous at points. Only write about a passion because you are going to need that passion to keep you going.  
I got my own ISBN, easy and free in Canada, and took a copy of the book in a pdf file to a printer and decided to market and distribute myself. I have done 10 times better than just using the POD. But they are a sort of home base for me, and I can always refer people to them if I do not happen to have any copies or perhaps cannot afford to print any at a certain time. Although I have done a lot of public speaking, reading your book is not the same, and pitching to people in a favorable way is an art — I have had to hone my skills in those departments. One also needs to understand the appropriate media to get reviews with. 
I think the biggest lesson is: When your book is finished, it is not your baby anymore. It has grown up, is now a product and ready to go out into the world. You are not selling “my book,” but “this book about -----” (and the reasons why people want to read it). Leave your ego at home .

— Compiled by Sonya Senkowsky

About Toni Graeme
Canadian writer Toni Graeme is editor and publisher of Women Who Lived and Loved North of 60', a series of memoirs written by 36 women in one book. The book has been out since late 2000 and has sold about 1,800 copies, according to Graeme. She is now working on the third edition, to include 12 to 15 stories from Alaska women, and is seeking contributors of pieces 3,000 to 5,000 words plus photographs, in exchange for an author’s credit. Her Web site is www.tonigraeme.net.